March, 2001 "Apple Seeds" Motivation, Inspiration Quotations

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Volume 16, # 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March, 2001

Plant these "seeds" well and water often. Enjoy!

A Noble Soul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

    "If any man wishes to write in a clear style, let him be first clear in his thoughts; and if any would write in a noble style, let him first possess a noble soul."

Wisdom Seeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anonymous

"Many people might become outstanding
except for their fear of being different."

All Men Dream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . T.E. Lawrence, TOP ACHIEVEMENT

    "All men dream; but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds awake to find that it was vanity; but dreamers by day are dangerous men, that they may act on their dreams with open eyes to make it possible."

Citizens, not Spectators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pres. George Walker Bush

    In his Inaugural Address on January 20, 2001 as the 43^rd president of the United States, President George Walker Bush said, "What you do is as important as anything government does. I ask you to seek a common good beyond your comfort, to defend needed reforms against easy attacks, to serve your nation, beginning with your neighbor. I ask you to be citizens. Citizens, not spectators. Citizens not subjects. Responsible citizens, building communities of service and a nation of character."

Irish Proverb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anonymous

"May you always have work for your hands to do.
May your pockets hold always a coin or two.
May the sun shine bright on your windowpane.
May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you.
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you."

Avoid Rumors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bits & Pieces, April ‘87, p. 24

    "The best way to avoid rumors is to put the facts on the table promptly, available to everyone. Don’t sweep anything under the rug unless you have valid, compelling reasons for doing so. And think twice about those reasons."

Start It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SOUNDINGS, March ‘87, p.22
"How to get things done:
Don’t put it off a day—start it.
Don’t imagine it as too difficult—start it.
Don’t look for someone else to do it—start it.
Don’t think it over—start it.
And don’t start halfheartedly, put everything you can muster into your start."

Daily Opportunity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

"Nothing is so often irretrievably missed as a daily opportunity."

Conscious Recognition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W.H. Auden in Markings, p.15

    "I am sure it is everyone’s experience, as it has been mine, that any discovery we make about ourselves or the meaning of life is never, like a scientific discovery, a coming upon something entirely new and unsuspected; it is rather, the coming to conscious recognition of something, which we really knew all the time but, because we were unwilling to formulate it correctly, we did not hitherto know we knew."

Irish Sayings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anonymous

"The older the fiddle the sweeter the tune."
"It’s no use boiling your cabbage twice."
"There’s no need to fear the wind if your haystacks are tied down."
"Do not mistake a goats beard for a fine stallions tail."

On Wit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fr. Brian, TOR

"Wit is wisdom all grown up."

Meet the Shadow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M. Scott Peck, A World Waiting To Be Born, p. 190

    "Carl Jung used the term Shadow to designate that part of our mind containing those things that we would rather not own up to: traits that we are not only trying to hide from others but also from ourselves, that we are continually trying to sweep under the rug of consciousness. He ascribed the root of individual human evil to one’s ‘refusal to meet the shadow.’"

Wisdom Seeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Salada tea bags

"Wisdom is the ability to discover alternatives."
"Nothing is obvious to the uninformed."

Be Better . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anonymous

"None of us will ever be perfect,
but we can all be better."

The Necessary Solitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Albert Camus
                                                           Clifford Stevens, "Contemplative Life…" THE PRIEST, April ‘87, p. 30

    "There are no more deserts. There are no more islands, yet one still feels the need of them. To understand this world, one must sometimes turn away from it; to serve better, one must hold them briefly at a distance. But where can the necessary solitude be found, the long breathing space in which the mind gathers its strength and takes stock of its courage?"

A Good Marriage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rainer Maria Rilke

    "A good marriage is that in which each appoints the other guardian of his solitude. Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest human beings infinite distances continue to exist, a wonderful living, side by side, can grow up, if they succeed in loving the distance between them which makes it possible for each to see the other whole and against a wide sky."

Celtic Spirituality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Esther de Waal
                                                            "The Extraordinary in the Ordinary," Weavings, Vol. II, # 3, p.9

    "For as well as this sense of God’s immanence in creation, God’s presence is even more keenly felt in the daily round of human tasks and at the most important junctures of life.
    "…in this Celtic world the barriers that we know (and perhaps that we have built up for ourselves and still quite unconsciously continue to keep in good repair) simply do not exist. There seems to be no distinction between time and eternity, between heaven and earth, between the secular and the sacred, between the people now on earth and the saints in heaven—between the ordinary and the extraordinary."

Someone Else . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pulpit Helps, Jan. 1992

    The church was grief-stricken last week to learn that one of the most valuable parish members, Someone Else, had passed away. This death created a vacancy that would be difficult to fill. Someone Else has been with the church for many years. During all these years, she did far more than a normal person’s share of work. Whenever leadership was mentioned, this wonderful person was looked to for inspiration as well as results.
    Whenever there was a job to do—a committee to chair, or a meeting to attend—one name was on everyone’s list: "Let Someone Else do it."
    Someone Else was also among the largest givers of the church. Whenever there was a financial need, everyone just assumed that Someone Else would make up the difference.
    This beloved church member was a wonderful person, sometimes appearing super-human; but a person can only do so much. Everybody expected too much of Someone Else; depended on her too much.
    Now Someone Else is gone. Who will pitch in to do the things that Someone Else had done? If you are asked to serve on a committee, to assist a service organization, to help out, to donate to the church fund, it is hoped you won’t reply: "Let Someone Else do it." Just who will pick up where Someone Else had left off?

Preach Repentance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anthony de Mello, More One Minute Nonsense, p. 62

    The pastor was asked, "Why do you never preach repentance?"
    "It’s the only thing I teach," said the pastor.
    "But I never hear you speak on sorrow for sin," said the parishioner.
    "Repentance isn’t sorrow for the past," said the pastor. "The past is dead and isn’t worth a moment’s grief. Repentance is a change of mind—a radically different vision of Reality."

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